The shortage of donated organs means that for many in need of a life-saving transplant the only thing to do is wait, sometimes so long that the patient becomes too ill to undergo the operation. But much…

Tobacco smoke contains thousands of compounds, many of them toxic and capable of causing injury throughout the body. Because of this high toxicity of tobacco smoke, many diseases have long been causally…

A 20% tax on sugar drinks could change the habits of young Australians, which would benefit future generations.
Shutterstock / CreativaOctober 31, 2013

An article published recently in the BMJ argues that we have been pursuing the wrong hypothesis on the causes of obesity. Along with substandard science, this wrongheadedness has apparently exacerbated…

Antidepressant prescribing has been increasing in most developed countries since the the late 1980s and early 1990s.
PrettyPills/FlickrJanuary 24, 2013

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) has just published two opposing views on the vexed question of whether antidepressants are being over-prescribed. The issues raised by debate are by no means unique to…

The effectiveness of influenza drug Tamiflu has been called into question.
AAP / Gatean BallyNovember 14, 2012

An article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) today says a US charity “overstates the benefit of mammography and ignores harms altogether.” The charity’s questionable claim is that early detection…